In Love With the Idea of Asians (Why I Should’ve Walked Out of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)

September 04, 2010   Jenny Rain   10 Comments
posted by: Jenny Rain

I had high hopes for this movie.  Rotten Tomatoes gave it 81% after all.  I really should’ve known better.  If you haven’t seen the movie yet, here’s the plot, as boiled down by moi (spoiler alert!):

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera):  Knives Chau.  She’s CHINESE.
Bandmate (white guy):  That’s AWESOME.

*later*

Scott Pilgrim:  Knives Chau.  She’s CHINESE.
Scott Pilgrim’s Sister:  You’re dating a seventeen year-old CHINESE SCHOOLGIRL?  You’re RIDICULOUS!

*later*

While Scott Pilgrim is fighting Ramona Flowers’ first ex-boyfriend, Matthew Patel

Ramona Flowers, on why she dated Matthew Patel:  He was the only NON-WHITE, non-jock there.

*later*

Scott Pilgrim: (to Knives Chau)  Are you even allowed to date outside your race?

*later*

Knives Chau gets punched in the face by a vegan blonde guy.

*later*

Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman):  (to Knives Chau)  Hey, Kung Pao Chicken!

*later*

Knives Chau kicks Jason Schwartzman in the balls.

*later*

Scott Pilgrim ends up with Ramona Flowers.

The end.

Annnnd, THAT, my friend, is the movie in the nutshell.  Several times throughout the film, I wanted to get up and shout “Asians are not just ‘cool ideas!’”  Except I didn’t.  I actually got in trouble with the staff at Alamo Drafthouse for angrily texting during the movie.  Honestly, I could’ve done without the first half hour of the film.  Why the need to repeat the fact that Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) is Chinese?  Like it’s something sensational to gawk at.  (Do you always introduce your girlfriends by calling out their races?  If so, you just might be a fetishist.)  Why the need to make her into some ridiculous Anime-like, fainting-at-a-rock-show, creepy stalker chick?  WHY?

Also, the fact that Ramona Flowers seemed to only be attracted to Matthew Patel because he was “non-white,” made my skin crawl.  She’s equally as guilty as Scott Pilgrim of being in love with an idea of a cool Asian.  Later, Ramona’s other ex-boyfriends, the “awesome” Katayagi Twins (read: Japanese), show up for battle of the bands and are so awesome that they’re the only ones of her exes that don’t actually have any lines in the film.  All they do this stand there, look cool, and summon twin dragons to fight for them.  Again, cue the mysterious “non-white” power of the Asian characters.

Also, when the entire audience (minus you and your companion) is laughing at the “Kung Pao Chicken” line, it’s A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN AWKWARD.  Let’s play the “How Many Racists in the Audience” game, shall we?

The only satisfaction I got when watching this film was when Ellen Wong got to sword fight Ramona Flowers and kick Jason Schwartzman squarely in the balls.  Granted, I had to endure an hour and a half+ of torture before that sweet catharsis.

The only real lesson this movie teaches anyone is that Asian girls like Ellen Wong “don’t get” hipster culture–or how to steal the heart of a nerdy white boy–which belongs primarily to white people.

No, I don’t think this film is overtly racist.  But, I do think it fetishizes Asian characters to a certain degree, based on the lines listed above and the obvious gratuitous mentioning of Knives Chau’s race.  If they had removed all of the lines alluding to the fact that Knives is Chinese, I probably would have enjoyed this movie quite a bit more than I did.

Ellen Wong:  You are hot.  I hope to see you in another film with an infinitely better role for you.

(for Jaymie)

Popularity: 3% [?]

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  • http://sayitwithcookiecake.com Adam

    Disagree. Did you ignore every part of the movie that DIDN’T have Knives Chau in it? I mean, okay, first of all, that aspect of the movie is pretty faithful to the comic, so take the racism up with Bryan Lee O’Malley if you must, but I also think they draw way more attention to the fact that she’s a high schooler. They must have mentioned her age at least twice as many times as her race. Doesn’t it seem like the point that, in a Walter Mitty fantasy narrative told through the lens of a white man’s exposure to Asian video games & culture (the comic book is drawn as a manga), that you’re meant to be critical of Scott for viewing romance through the lens of fetishism? Meanwhile, shouldn’t we be cheering for Knives, whose character ARCS from a young, naive stereotype into a more fleshed-out, mature character capable of making her own decisions? I think that the movie sufficiently addresses “Asians are not just cool ideas” on its own terms. Next time, don’t angry-text and watch the film.

  • Jenny Rain

    @Adam

    You’re free to disagree. No, I did not ignore every part of the movie that didn’t have Knives Chau in it. I watched it. I chuckled at some parts. But the fact is that from the very beginning of the film, after the words “She’s Chinese” were uttered several times, I basically couldn’t pay attention to anything else. Did YOU ignore all of the lines I mentioned above? How is a person watching supposed to enjoy a film when all of that is going on?? Whoever needs to be blamed for those lines, whether it’s Bryan Lee O’Malley or someone else, I have a valid point. And it’s not just me who feels this way. I could give you names of other Asian people who did. You know, I WAS rooting for her the entire time, if only because her character was SO completely idiotic and one-dimensional in the beginning that it was almost hard to watch. Have you ever sat in a theater with people who aren’t supposed to laugh at racist things but do? It’s quite an experience, I’ll tell you what…

  • Chris

    Wow, props to you, Jen, for actually watching the movie! It looked like a disaster to me, but a friend of mine said it was gold. I’ll see it one day. Maybe.

    Asian men are not the objectified prizes of comic book lovers and soldiers that Asian women are, at least in America. I die a little on the inside when I hear guys announce and detail their yellow fever at parties and gatherings. I just hope people are attracted to people for reasons other than skin color– how about personality, chemistry, shared views, etc?

    Sidenote: I count Indian as Asian, since India is in Asia, no matter how much America disagrees.

    Slumdog was great for exposure, but now it’s the default comparison for Indian men/women (Oh, you look so much like __! How exotic!). I’m a little worried about the NBC show coming up this fall, Outsourced. I fear the characters on that show will become defaults for people with no exposure to Indians– but hopefully not as bad as The Simpsons’ Apu (ughhhh). Maybe I’m just being negative.

  • Jenny Rain

    @Chris

    Indians TOTALLY count as Asians. In fact, the person who’s most responsible for helping me cope with my Asianness was a South Asian counselor I interviewed for a documentary I did for school.

    I’m worried about Outsourced too. On the one hand, it’s great that South Asian actors are going to have prominent roles on television, but on the other hand, it just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. *Fingers crossed*

  • http://sayitwithcookiecake.com Adam

    I think Outsourced will be a waste of Parks and Rec’s timeslot. Not to mention I just had a conversation about why I don’t think it’s okay to like Jeff Dunham.

    So I recognize that there’s a degree to which you can tolerate any form of entertainment, and you (as well as any other number of people, Asian or otherwise, who agree with you) always have the right to be offended by anything.

    But here’s where I draw mine: unlike Jeff Dunham and probably Outsourced, I don’t think Scott Pilgrim asks us to laugh at anyone because of racial stereotypes. We laugh at them because of their (broadly drawn) character traits. Knives is Chinese-Canadian, but I didn’t see much evidence in the movie that we were supposed to laugh at her for that. We’re supposed to laugh at Scott for fetishizing her — HE should be the object of ridicule.

    The rest of the evidence seems like a stretch. If you’re offended because they point out that she’s Chinese-Canadian, then I see why you might view the entire film through that lens, but I don’t think the film ever asks us to view Knives’ stalking, lack of familiarity with hipsters, etc. as coming from her racial identity, when the entire time it’s telling us it’s because she’s SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD. I mean, really, how familiar with hipster culture or indie bands were you at that age?

  • Jenny Rain

    @Adam

    Wrong. They DON’T point out she’s “Chinese-Canadian.” They call her a “Chinese schoolgirl.” Which, essentially, is true. But by default there are implications that phrase makes that are hard to ignore. I’m not saying that the film is overtly racist. Far from it. I’m saying that the stereotypes are so subtle and we as an audience are so free to accept them that it’s way more detrimental. We should and do laugh at Scott Pilgrim, but it’s precisely because of the “Chinese schoolgirl” stereotype that we’re laughing. If they really wanted to make it about her age, they would’ve cut out all the stuff about her race. Why the line about being “allowed to date outside your race??” Why the line about “Kung Pao Chicken??” It’s all there. You just choose to ignore it.

  • http://sayitwithcookiecake.com Adam

    …uttered by the two characters in the movie that (at the points those lines are uttered) we’re supposed to feel the least sympathy for.

    It’s not like a lightweight movie like this is going to take hefty race relations issues on, but as opposed to a movie that includes a racist depiction of a Chinese character and makes absolutely no mention of it, I give SPvtW credit for acknowledging those tropes and making the characters wholly unsympathetic for perpetuating them. Does anyone sit through the first 30 minutes of the movie thinking Scott is right for what he’s doing?

  • Jenny Rain

    @Adam

    Nobody thinks Scott is right in what he’s doing because his friends all feel sorry that he’s leading Knives on. It in no way excuses the lines alluding to her race. I disagree that the lines were uttered by people we have the least sympathy for. Scott is the protagonist, and that means this:

    A protagonist (from the Greek πρωταγωνιστής protagonistes, “one who plays the first part, chief actor”[1]) is the main character (the central or primary personal figure) of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, video game, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative’s plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to share the most empathy.

    Even at his lowest points, we still side with him. Even when he’s treating Knives like shit, we can chalk it up to “true love” with Ramona. He certainly did. I challenge you to find a person who actually thought that Scott was cheating on Ramona with Knives until it was actually mentioned by him, the protagonist.

  • Jenny Rain

    @Adam

    I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this.

  • Sez

    Agreed…. I only watched the first bit and started hating it too much to continue lol… I could already tell this girl was gonna be consistently embarrassing throughout the movie haha I’m glad there are people out there to write articles like yours! There’s so much white hierarchy in movies and blatant dissing of other races it makes me laugh. Ellen’s gorgeous though and I hope she gets an actually decent role one day- it’s almost like non white races are never treated to too powerful roles as they want to keep whites on top or something. Would it kill people to cast a decent asian main character that isn’t some pathetic scrapegoat for once? At least they’ve started doing it a bit for blacks… ! And at least such blatant BS as this movie wil encourage more asians and non whites to become…well the opposite of this sissy little character!